CES Lottery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're having a hard time deciding whether we should accept the spot or not! For reference, we looked at the bus schedules from our home school to the CES and it looked like it's 40 min bus ride.

It's always tough making these kinds of decisions. We passed on our magnet seat and in retrospect that was the best move.

Off the top of my head, our reasons for not attending had to do with my kid's personality and where he was at, his interests, whether we liked the school the magnet program was at, and the long commute.

Having chosen to staying with our home school - which we chose carefully to begin with - my kid is really happy with the staff, his friends, and has a lot more free time than he would have otherwise. Especially since many are in our neighborhood. Regardless, whatever you choose, it will be okay.

[Anonymous]

*Having chosen to stay, not staying

[Anonymous]

I know a significant number of 3rd graders who were offered a spot at CES this year. Several of my kids friends. Did they accept an unusually large group of kids this year anticipating that many would decline since there’s really no value in going to a CES anymore? Kids can get all the same enrichment at their home schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a significant number of 3rd graders who were offered a spot at CES this year. Several of my kids friends. Did they accept an unusually large group of kids this year anticipating that many would decline since there’s really no value in going to a CES anymore? Kids can get all the same enrichment at their home schools.

Nope, you just know a lot of lucky kids. I know of one kid in my kid's circle who got a spot, though most were in the lottery. They can't offer more spots than they have. It's not an airline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a significant number of 3rd graders who were offered a spot at CES this year. Several of my kids friends. Did they accept an unusually large group of kids this year anticipating that many would decline since there’s really no value in going to a CES anymore? Kids can get all the same enrichment at their home schools.

Nope, you just know a lot of lucky kids. I know of one kid in my kid's circle who got a spot, though most were in the lottery. They can't offer more spots than they have. It's not an airline.

It is such a great program. Too bad they can't offer it to more students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a significant number of 3rd graders who were offered a spot at CES this year. Several of my kids friends. Did they accept an unusually large group of kids this year anticipating that many would decline since there’s really no value in going to a CES anymore? Kids can get all the same enrichment at their home schools.

They can get enrichment at their home schools, but it’s not exactly the same. The CES curriculum is woven through multiple subjects and involves large projects that aren’t confined to a single learning block (like just ELA). Having said that, if there are highly able students and good teachers at your home school, the CES isn’t going to be life changing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a significant number of 3rd graders who were offered a spot at CES this year. Several of my kids friends. Did they accept an unusually large group of kids this year anticipating that many would decline since there’s really no value in going to a CES anymore? Kids can get all the same enrichment at their home schools.

Nope, you just know a lot of lucky kids. I know of one kid in my kid's circle who got a spot, though most were in the lottery. They can't offer more spots than they have. It's not an airline.

It is such a great program. Too bad they can't offer it to more students.

At one time I would have agreed with this. But what I saw in the Title I school where I teach, expanding access to the CES by opening more centers was a bit of a double edged sword. More students got access, which was first and foremost the proper priority. We sent more kids than ever before. But at the same time, it depleted our 4th and 5th grades. Kids who were on the cusp, or had a spark but weren't quite at CES level, were left behind with no academic peers. Especially our newcomer ESOL students, many of whom had skills in their home language and had been stellar students before, but couldn't yet perform at that level in English. I saw many of them hating school because they had "no friends," because the smart motivated kids were gone.

With compacted math and now ELC, my school is going to be able to give these students the enrichment they need, and from my brief sample (meaning, looking up the kids who got spots and asking them if their parents had talked about a new school next year), most of the parents are keeping their kids at their home school. Again, completely non-scientific, but I would not have received those answers a few years ago. If a kid got a spot, the parents moved heaven and earth to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a significant number of 3rd graders who were offered a spot at CES this year. Several of my kids friends. Did they accept an unusually large group of kids this year anticipating that many would decline since there’s really no value in going to a CES anymore? Kids can get all the same enrichment at their home schools.

Nope, you just know a lot of lucky kids. I know of one kid in my kid's circle who got a spot, though most were in the lottery. They can't offer more spots than they have. It's not an airline.

It is such a great program. Too bad they can't offer it to more students.

At one time I would have agreed with this. But what I saw in the Title I school where I teach, expanding access to the CES by opening more centers was a bit of a double edged sword. More students got access, which was first and foremost the proper priority. We sent more kids than ever before. But at the same time, it depleted our 4th and 5th grades. Kids who were on the cusp, or had a spark but weren't quite at CES level, were left behind with no academic peers. Especially our newcomer ESOL students, many of whom had skills in their home language and had been stellar students before, but couldn't yet perform at that level in English. I saw many of them hating school because they had "no friends," because the smart motivated kids were gone.

With compacted math and now ELC, my school is going to be able to give these students the enrichment they need, and from my brief sample (meaning, looking up the kids who got spots and asking them if their parents had talked about a new school next year), most of the parents are keeping their kids at their home school. Again, completely non-scientific, but I would not have received those answers a few years ago. If a kid got a spot, the parents moved heaven and earth to make it work.

I find it hard to believe that sending 2-3 kids to CES is having that much of an impact. Nevertheless, if they opened more centers those kids with no peers would be able to join their friends in the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a significant number of 3rd graders who were offered a spot at CES this year. Several of my kids friends. Did they accept an unusually large group of kids this year anticipating that many would decline since there’s really no value in going to a CES anymore? Kids can get all the same enrichment at their home schools.

Nope, you just know a lot of lucky kids. I know of one kid in my kid's circle who got a spot, though most were in the lottery. They can't offer more spots than they have. It's not an airline.

It is such a great program. Too bad they can't offer it to more students.

At one time I would have agreed with this. But what I saw in the Title I school where I teach, expanding access to the CES by opening more centers was a bit of a double edged sword. More students got access, which was first and foremost the proper priority. We sent more kids than ever before. But at the same time, it depleted our 4th and 5th grades. Kids who were on the cusp, or had a spark but weren't quite at CES level, were left behind with no academic peers. Especially our newcomer ESOL students, many of whom had skills in their home language and had been stellar students before, but couldn't yet perform at that level in English. I saw many of them hating school because they had "no friends," because the smart motivated kids were gone.

With compacted math and now ELC, my school is going to be able to give these students the enrichment they need, and from my brief sample (meaning, looking up the kids who got spots and asking them if their parents had talked about a new school next year), most of the parents are keeping their kids at their home school. Again, completely non-scientific, but I would not have received those answers a few years ago. If a kid got a spot, the parents moved heaven and earth to make it work.

I find it hard to believe that sending 2-3 kids to CES is having that much of an impact. Nevertheless, if they opened more centers those kids with no peers would be able to join their friends in the program.

When the program expanded, it was more like 7-10 students, and yes it made an impact. Why open more centers when the programming can be made available at every school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a significant number of 3rd graders who were offered a spot at CES this year. Several of my kids friends. Did they accept an unusually large group of kids this year anticipating that many would decline since there’s really no value in going to a CES anymore? Kids can get all the same enrichment at their home schools.

They can get enrichment at their home schools, but it’s not exactly the same. The CES curriculum is woven through multiple subjects and involves large projects that aren’t confined to a single learning block (like just ELA). Having said that, if there are highly able students and good teachers at your home school, the CES isn’t going to be life changing.

According to DC the best thing about it were the other kids. They enjoyed the program too but mostly met a lot of kids they could relate to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a significant number of 3rd graders who were offered a spot at CES this year. Several of my kids friends. Did they accept an unusually large group of kids this year anticipating that many would decline since there’s really no value in going to a CES anymore? Kids can get all the same enrichment at their home schools.

Nope, you just know a lot of lucky kids. I know of one kid in my kid's circle who got a spot, though most were in the lottery. They can't offer more spots than they have. It's not an airline.

It is such a great program. Too bad they can't offer it to more students.

At one time I would have agreed with this. But what I saw in the Title I school where I teach, expanding access to the CES by opening more centers was a bit of a double edged sword. More students got access, which was first and foremost the proper priority. We sent more kids than ever before. But at the same time, it depleted our 4th and 5th grades. Kids who were on the cusp, or had a spark but weren't quite at CES level, were left behind with no academic peers. Especially our newcomer ESOL students, many of whom had skills in their home language and had been stellar students before, but couldn't yet perform at that level in English. I saw many of them hating school because they had "no friends," because the smart motivated kids were gone.

With compacted math and now ELC, my school is going to be able to give these students the enrichment they need, and from my brief sample (meaning, looking up the kids who got spots and asking them if their parents had talked about a new school next year), most of the parents are keeping their kids at their home school. Again, completely non-scientific, but I would not have received those answers a few years ago. If a kid got a spot, the parents moved heaven and earth to make it work.

I find it hard to believe that sending 2-3 kids to CES is having that much of an impact. Nevertheless, if they opened more centers those kids with no peers would be able to join their friends in the program.

When the program expanded, it was more like 7-10 students, and yes it made an impact. Why open more centers when the programming can be made available at every school?

Not every school has a large enough high-performing cohort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're having a hard time deciding whether we should accept the spot or not! For reference, we looked at the bus schedules from our home school to the CES and it looked like it's 40 min bus ride.

We were in your shoes last year, PP.

We really wanted our child to try it out, as DC would often complain about being bored at school. When DC got off the wait list, they were very unwilling to leave their home school. Didn't want to leave friends, etc. We had to gently push them to get on board, and said if they were miserable they could go back to their home school.

Two weeks into the program, DC said to us, "I would never go back to my home school. I am SO GLAD I am in CES."

We are the first bus stop in the morning and last stop in the evening, 45 min ride. DC does homework on the morning ride or snoozes, and goofs off with friends on the evening ride. We pick up a few nights a week so they have time to breathe between school and activities.

It's the peer group that makes all of the difference. They enjoy being around other quick learners, the group work, etc.

We are very glad we made the right choice. If it didn't work out/DC was unhappy, we would have let DC go back to their home school.

Every kid is in the same boat with leaving friends behind, so on Day 1 they are all in the same boat in that regard. They made friendships very quickly as a result.

[Anonymous]

Random anecdotal data: three students from my school (I'm a teacher) were selected from the lottery, and all three declined their spots (Barnsley). Two attended the Open House and gave it real consideration, but felt that ELC + compacted math pullouts next year made it worth it to stay in their home school.

I find that very interesting as in my many years, I can count on one hand the number of students before this year I've known that declined spots without even trying it out first (which is what I always recommend if their parents ask me--you can always come back, so if you're on the fence, why not commit for Q1 and plan to make a "real" decision then.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a significant number of 3rd graders who were offered a spot at CES this year. Several of my kids friends. Did they accept an unusually large group of kids this year anticipating that many would decline since there’s really no value in going to a CES anymore? Kids can get all the same enrichment at their home schools.

They can get enrichment at their home schools, but it’s not exactly the same. The CES curriculum is woven through multiple subjects and involves large projects that aren’t confined to a single learning block (like just ELA). Having said that, if there are highly able students and good teachers at your home school, the CES isn’t going to be life changing.

They know this. The point of their post is to convince others it's okay to decline in order to create waitlist movement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're having a hard time deciding whether we should accept the spot or not! For reference, we looked at the bus schedules from our home school to the CES and it looked like it's 40 min bus ride.

We were in your shoes last year, PP.

We really wanted our child to try it out, as DC would often complain about being bored at school. When DC got off the wait list, they were very unwilling to leave their home school. Didn't want to leave friends, etc. We had to gently push them to get on board, and said if they were miserable they could go back to their home school.

Two weeks into the program, DC said to us, "I would never go back to my home school. I am SO GLAD I am in CES."

We are the first bus stop in the morning and last stop in the evening, 45 min ride. DC does homework on the morning ride or snoozes, and goofs off with friends on the evening ride. We pick up a few nights a week so they have time to breathe between school and activities.

It's the peer group that makes all of the difference. They enjoy being around other quick learners, the group work, etc.

We are very glad we made the right choice. If it didn't work out/DC was unhappy, we would have let DC go back to their home school.

Every kid is in the same boat with leaving friends behind, so on Day 1 they are all in the same boat in that regard. They made friendships very quickly as a result.

My DC also felt similarly. They loved their home school but found their tribe with CES.